Shipping coop



C. T. SHERMAN, SR-

SHIPPING COOP.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16, 1921.

Patented Aug. 1, 1922,

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To all whom it may concern:

lBe it knownthat I, CHARLES T. SHERMAN, Sr a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing" at Goldvein, in the county of Fauquier and State ofVirginia, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in ShippingCoops, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of this invention is to produce a coop for shipping livepoultry,'in which are embodied great simplicity and economy ofconstruction, and great strength and light weight, the first to efl'ectlow cost in quantity production, and the last to stand the roughhandling incident to transportation and reduction in freight charges orcosts. I'

The invention consists of a coop having top and bottom frames made up oflongitudinal side bars, preferably of square crosssection, similar endbars, and vertical dowels or spindles socketed in the bars, the sidebars and end bars being butt-jointed, without mortising, miter-ing orother cutting, and the joints secured by nails or equivalent fastenersdriven through them and through the corner dowels and the dowelsnext-thereto; the top being, in one form of my invention, formed byintermediate longitudinal bars mortised in the end bars and securedtherein by nails or equivalent fasteners, and crossdowels passingthrough the intermediate bars and socketed in the side bars; a door ofnovel construction being hin edly mounted in the top and adapted to elocked in place; the bottom being solid and of any approvedconstruction, as I will proceed now to explain and finally claim.

Inthe accompanying drawings illustrating the invention in the severalfigures of which like parts are similarly designated, 'Fi re 1 is aperspective view of a coop speciall ydesigned for transporting chickens.Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation, on a larger scale, of one corner of thecoop showing the fastening feature. Fig. 3 is a top plan view, on alarger scale than that of Fig. 1, showing the details of the door. Fig.4 is an end elevation of a coop for larger fowls, such as turkeys.

The top and bottom frames comprise the longitudinal side bars 1,preferably made of uniform s uare cross-section throughout, and the endars 2, of similar form, buttjointed at their meeting ends 3, that is tosay, at the corners of the frames, and se- S pecification of LettersPatent. Patgnteqfi 1, 1922,

' Application filed September 16, 1921. Serial No. 501,114. r

cured by long nails or other suitable fas the coop, and the nails 4 usedto secure the side and end bars are driven through these bars and alsothrough those portions of the corner dowels and the dowels next adjacentthereto which are-in the sockets, as shown in Fig. 2, so as not only tofasten together said bars but also to firmly and securely unite themwith the dowels and thus connect the top and bottom frames.

The corners or angles of such coops are most exposed to damage in use,but as in my construction there is no mortising, mitering or othercutting away of the meeting ends of the side and end bars and consequentreducing' ofthe strength, the coops produced in accordance with myinvention by buttjointing these bars/without cutting, present a maximumof strength at these vulnerable points; and in addition myconstructionedects an economy of material, but particularly an economy in laborcosts. Where hard wood, such as hickory is used in the construction ofcoops, these advantages are of great importance.

The top frame may have the intermediate bars 7 and 8 running lengthwisethereof, with their ends connected with the end bars .by mortise andtenon joints 9 and nails 10.

Transverse dowels or spindles 11 have their ends secured in sockets '12(see the broken out part in the upper side bar, Fig. 1) in the adjacentsides of the side bars, and these dowels extend through holes 13 (seethe broken out part in bar 7, Fig. 1) in the intermediate bars to theside bars, exce ting at a central point where the door 14 1s located,and where, by the omission of the dowels between the intermediate bars 7and 8 a .door 0 ening is provided in the top. The short dbwels justdescribed preferably are held in place by nails 10 driven through or.into the side bars and dowels. preferably is solid, and has a transversehole The door 15 in one end through which one of the cross dowels 11passes and serves as a hinge pintle for the door, as shown more indetail inFig. 3. The dowel 11 which forms the hinge intle for the doormay also be secured in both the side bars and the intermediate bars bynails 10 and 10. The opposite end of the door is cut away, as at 16 soas to rest upon one of the cross dowels 11 at that end and be flush withthe top of the coop; and at this end the door is proa vided with asocket 17 (see Fig. 3) which is engaged by the projecting end 18 of oneof the cross dowels 11, and the door is pressed into en agement withthis projecting end by a cor ed spring 19 mounted upon the hinge pintledowel atone side and between the door and the next adjacentjintermediate bar 8, and acting laterally upon the door. The dooris of sufliciently' less width than the space between the intermediatebars 7 and 8 to' admit of enough sidewise move 'inent, against thepressure of the spring, to

clear the end 18 and thus be released for opening and closing purposes.

The door 14 may have a hole 20 in it to receive a wire seal 21 forsealing the entrance to the coop and preventing unauthorized opening ofthe door g rAny other door looking means may bevtised.

The bottom ofthe, coop may be of any desired construction? I have shownit as com osed of boards 22 attached to the bottom rame.

Coops for larger fowls, such as turkeys, are made higher than those forchickens and the like, and in order to strengthen such v higher coops,they may be provided with side bars 23 and end bars 24, as shown in Fig.4:, connected to one another and to the corner and next adjacent dowelsby nails or equivalent fasteners-25 as in the case of the top and bottomframes first described. In this-type of coops the side bars and the endbars will have through holes 26 for the passa e of the dowels. i

have already referred to the corner construction as presenting greatstrength, and

i now add that thisstrength may be augmented by positively fastening theend dowels in the top frame, as by nails 27 driven through the side bars1 and the ends of the dowels socketed therein. By this construcas hereinclaimed.

2 tion the rigidity and stiffness of the corners their constituent barsand the dowels being connected by nails or other fasteners driventhrough one set of bars into the other set and simultaneously throughthe corner dowels and the dowels next adjacent thereto.

2. A shipping coop, having top and bottom frames composed of side andend bars butt-jointed, and connecting dowels socketed in said bars atthe corners of-the frames and along the sides and ends, the frames andtheir constituent bars and the dowels being connected by nails or otherfasteners driven through one set of bars into the other set andsimultaneously throu h the corner dowels and the dowels next a jacentthereto, and an intermediate framie arranged between the top and bottomframes and composed of side and end bars connected to one another and tothe corner and next adjacent dowels by fasteners driven through them,the side and end dowels passing through the side and end bars of saidintermediate frame and socketed in the side and end bars of the top andbottom frames as described.

3. A shipping coop, composed of top and bottom frames and connectingside and end dowels, the top frame having intermediate longitudinal barsand dowels extending from side to side through such intermediate barssaving for a substantially central door open ing, a pivoted doorarranged in said opening and having one of the through dowels as itspintle, a spring interposed onsaid pintle between the side edge of thedoor and the next adjacent intermediate bar and serving to force thedoor toward the other intermediate bar, a dowel projecting into the dooropening near its end opposite the pintle and adapted to engage a hole inthe side of the door to hold the door closed, said door having acut-away portion at its free end adapted to rest upon a cross dowel tosupport the closed door flush with the top.

1. A shipping coop, composed of top and bottom frames and connectingside and end dowels, the top frame having intermediate longitudinal barsand dowels extending from side to side through suchintermediate barssaving for a substantially central door opening, a pivoted door arrangedin said opening and having one of the through dowels as its pintle, aspring interposed on said pintle be tween the side edge of the door andthe next adjacent intermediate bar and serving to force the door towardthe other intermediate bar, a dowel projecting into the door openingnear its end opposite the pintle and adapted to engage a hole in theside of the door to hold the door closed, said door having a cut-awayport-ion at its free ndadapted to rest upon a cross dowel to support theclosed door flush with the top, and means for locking the door in closedposition to prevent unauthorized access to the contents of the "coop, 4

weenie 5. A. shipping coop, having a top frame to leave a door opening,a door hingedly mounted upon one of the cross dowels, the 15 dowelsadjacent to this opening being nailed to the side bars and the doorpivoting dowel being likewise secured and also nailed to theintermediate bars;

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set 20 my hand this 13th day ofAugust A. D. 1921.

1 CHARLES 'll. SHERMAN, SR.

Witnesses:

W. D. REAMY, M. S CHANDLER,

